'Truth spoken without moderation reverses itself'
This blog is a source for intellectual exploration. It includes a list of alternative resources and a source of free books. The placement of an article does not imply that I agree with it, merely that I found it thought-provoking. There are also poems and book reviews. Texts written by me are labelled. Readers are free to re-post anything they like.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

The unconventional
administration of President
Trump may be causing consternation among American liberals. But here
in Germany, the
anchor of the European
Union, Trump’s rise is helping fuel an unexpected surge of the left. What is happening in
Germany is the kind of Trump bump perhaps never foreseen by his supporters - a
boost not for the German nationalists viewed as Trump’s natural allies but for
his fiercest critics in the centre left.

The Social Democrats (SPD) have
bounced back under the charismatic Martin Schulz, the
former head of the European Parliament who took over as party chairman last
month and is now staging a surprisingly strong bid to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a country that
stands as a painful example of the disastrous effects of radical nationalism,
Schulz is building a campaign in part around bold attacks on Trump. He has
stopped well short of direct comparisons to Adolf Hitler, but Schulz recently
mentioned Trump in the same speech in which he heralded his party’s resistance
to the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II.

“We will never give up
our values, our freedom and democracy, no matter what challenges we are
facing,” Schulz said in a recent speech. He added, “That a US president wants
to put up walls, is thinking aloud about torture and attacks women, religious
communities, minorities, people with handicaps, artists and intellectuals with
brazen and dangerous comments is a breach of taboo that’s unbearable.” His anti-Trump
platform comes as Germans are questioning American power more than at any point
since the end of the Cold
War, illustrating an erosion of allied faith in the new era of “America
first.” A recent poll found that only 22 percent of Germans see the United
States led by Trump as a “reliable partner” - putting it only one percentage
point above Russia.

The traditional
left remains in disarray in France and Britain. But buoyed by Schulz’s
approach, his party last week pulled ahead of Merkel’s centre-right Christian
Democrats in opinion polls for the first time in six years. Elections are not
until September, but analysts are giving the SPD, under Schulz, its best
chances to regain power since Gerhard Schröder lost to Merkel in 2005.

“There are different
factors that are coming together for the SPD,” said Ralf Stegner, the party’s
deputy chairman. “Schulz has provided a new impulse for people who were waiting
to come back... but also, the new American president, because Trump’s
presidency has politicised the German public, making them more active and
aware.” Without naming names,
Merkel, who
was perhaps closer to President Barack Obama than any world leader, has
taken aim at Trump - criticising, for instance, his refugee ban. But Schulz has
also accused Merkel of being too diplomatic.

Germany, which
shoulders the history of Nazi tyranny, is an outlier in containing the current
spread of me-first nationalism. Even as far-right parties and isolationist
politics gain ground elsewhere in Europe, the largest right-wing populist party
here - the Alternative for Germany - has fallen slightly in the polls since
Trump’s election. At the same time,
left-wing parties in Germany have seen a jump in dues-paying members. There are
also signs that Trump’s election is making left-leaning voters in Germany more
politically active.

Take, for instance,
Kristina Seidler, a 28-year-old mother and Düsseldorf resident who works as a
substantiality adviser for a textile company. She has voted for the SPD before.
But the day after Trump’s victory, she signed up as a dues-paying member and
party volunteer. Horrified by Trump’s
win, she said she sees the traditional left as the only answer and is preparing
to put up posters and help with campaigning as the German election season rolls
into high gear. “What kind of sign is
it for the world when a man who is a racist, who treats women so badly, can
become the president of the United States?” Seidler said. “I thought, ‘It’s
time for me to do something.’”

Perhaps the biggest
single driver of the SPD’s new popularity, however, is Schulz. The SPD is already
part of Merkel’s governing “grand coalition,” with the party’s senior
operatives filling top cabinet posts. Yet its popularity with its left-leaning
base has been hampered by that power-sharing deal. Under its former chairman,
Sigmar Gabriel - Merkel’s foreign minister - the SPD was struggling to distance
itself from the current government. .. read more: